----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Four : The Loyal Servant's Absence

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something about the crawling speed of the gondola made Haruhi wonder just how serious this Tamaki Suoh was in finding Hunny. He had ushered them all into the elegant boat and now she was trapped on the narrow bench beside him while the others sat two by two ahead of them, Kyouya scribbling down something else in his handy-dandy notebook once again.

"So, Haruhi…" Tamaki leaned upon his cane, glancing up at her from a low angle that seemed to make him think he appeared much more attractive. It worked…but she wasn't the type to become entranced by a mere look as some girls did. She could admit he was handsome, but charming was something he was far from. "What do you think of my factory?"

"You've asked me about it already." She said bluntly.

The candy-maker stared, his jaw dropping. Soon afterwards he hung his head, shoulders slumped and his cane toppling over and rattling onto the floor at her feet.

Leaning down, the female winner picked up the cane and observed the golden K at the top. "In any case…one of your contestants has just been sucked up into a pipe and he may be seriously hurt. Shouldn't you show some more concern for him?"

Glancing over at him, he noticed that he had lifted his head again, staring at her with his eyes slightly wider and his mouth partially open. Upon seeing that she was looking at him, he closed his mouth and sat up straight, a more serious expression on his face.

"You're worried about someone…even though they were competition for my grand prize?"

"Yes, when would someone's life not matter any less then a grand prize?" she inquired, furrowing her eyebrows slightly; displeased by his statement. "I don't think that you should be surprised by someone wondering if another person is alright. If you are, then you are practically heartless."

A knife stabbed into the teen's back and he slumped forward.

"And what of Mori-san's concern for his cousin? Should I not worry about that either?" she sounded firm and Tamaki felt horrible for his words, mainly because of the verbal thrashing that was just delivered.

The candy-maker suddenly jumped up and all eyes turned to him as he held up a determined fist.

"You're absolutely right my dear girl!" he said, teary eyed, "Hunny-kun may be in danger and we only float idly by on the river!" Pointing at the Renge-Lenge that was steering the gondola, she jerked her head up attentively. "Full speed ahead!"

She nodded abruptly and abandoned the pole, pulling open a trapdoor and dropping down into it.

The boat didn't change for a moment but then Tamaki Suoh was suddenly rearing backwards as the gondola lurched forward and sped down the river. The twins clung to one another, steadying themselves before they became used to the speed and then they laughed, throwing up their arms and enjoying the ride. Kyouya even had to brace a hand upon the side of the vessel at first, Mori gripping the seat too.

Haruhi on the other hand was making sure that Suoh wasn't going to topple out of the gondola, her hands gripping the lapels of his waistcoat, trying to pull him more into the boat but he kept flailing his arms, making it more of a chore.

"Calm down—"she called, her voice enhanced suddenly by the tunnel that they were descending through, "Tamaki-san!"

How did the strange teen's first name suddenly escape her at that moment? She was suddenly able to pull him in and he was sitting beside her, staring straight ahead and sitting as still as a rock on the bench. A dazed smile suddenly crept across his lips before he turned his attention back to Haruhi.

"You said my name." he said, sounding as if nothing else made him happier.

Haruhi inwardly groaned.

The chocolatier's arms suddenly flung about her and his cheek pressed against hers, "My little girl! Come into Daddy's arms!"

Fujioka immediately pushed at him, "I don't need two fathers!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah—we're here!"

Tamaki stood up immediately, beaming as he looked upon the circular chamber reading "Invention Room" in illuminated letters.

"But I thought that you said that Haninozuka-kun was in the—"

Tamaki held up a finger, "Not to worry my dear daughter."

I didn't give him permission to call me that! Haruhi fumed, gripping her hands tightly into fists at her sides as she watched Tamaki with dangerous eyes.

"Hunny-kun is safe! Now, onward! I will speak with Mori-kun alone about the unfortunate accident."

Haruhi glanced over towards Morinozuka for a moment, he seemed to be stepping out of the gondola at that moment and his eyes were on the ground, lips pressed together in a definite expression of concern for the missing cousin. She felt sorry for him…he seemed to really care about his cousin to a great extent.

She thought about consulting him but the twins suddenly stood at either side of her.

"Fujioka Haruhi, eh?" they chimed together, smirking down at her as they linked their arms about her shoulders.

Un-be-known to Haruhi, the twins had witnessed all of the candy man's affection displayed towards her since their entry of the factory and, being the deviant little devils they were, decided to act on their assumptions that Tamaki Suoh was falling for the Cinderella of the contest.

"Let's go in together." Hikaru said, making his voice loud enough to echo off the walls and draw Suoh's attention from trying to usher Kyouya inside the Inventing Room.

Peering back over Haruhi's head, the twins grinned with particularly evil smiles as the chocolatier's jaw dropped and he gripped his cane tightly.

"Hey! Who said that you could put your arms around my daughter?"

"I'm not your daughter." Haruhi grumbled, averting her eyes.

"Release her!"

"We don't want to!" the twins snapped, sticking out their tongues before laughing and guiding Haruhi into the invention room; leaving a flabbergasted Tamaki Suoh standing in the tunnel with the silent Takashi Morinozuka.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Suoh really is an idiot…" Hikaru said, removing his arm from Haruhi's shoulders and bracing his hands upon his hips as he looked at his twin who followed suit, only the mirror image glanced off behind him where the teen was still missing from the room.

"Yeah, but at least he is fun to play with."

"Just what exactly do you see me as?" Haruhi asked, folding her arms, referring to their previous actions that had been dropped the moment they were in the Invention Room.

They peered down at her with arched eyebrows.

"It's obvious." Kaoru said, a sly smirk curving his lips as he linked his arm in his brother's and rest his other hand upon Hikaru's shoulder; leaning into him a bit.

"Our toy." They said together.

Fujioka sighed heavily, turning her back to them and straying away from the smaller cluster of contestant winners. She instead turned her attention to the multiple machines and glass vials that cluttered the room. Chemicals and strange liquids of various colors sparkled under a fluorescent light. The room was pungent with a combination of smells that were both sweet and yet a bit rancid with sour-smelling mixtures scattered about the room. Steam was pouring out of a boiler and she could have sworn a Renge-Lenge was swimming about in a glass tank filled with water where thick balls of candy were shot into the liquid.

"Everything in this factory defies logic." Haruhi murmured, shaking her head.

"That was his goal…"

Kyouya stepped up to her side, only this time there was a decent amount of space that kept him out of her personal bubble. An improvement from the clingy nature of the twins that she had previously encountered in the tunnel…

"What do you mean?" It was time to have a conversation with someone that seemed remotely normal.

"Suoh, Tamaki…" the medical millionaire descendant removed his notebook from his pocket and began to read from the first page he had opened it to. "…born in France, he was separated from his mother at a rather early age and moved to Japan where he lived with his father for several years until mysteriously disappearing one night. Two years later he was found again as the youngest individual to ever open a chocolate factory. His unique style and merchandise made him an immediate success economically and publicly. Eventually he had the funds to build this factory but has been isolating himself within its walls ever since it's opening. End of report."

He closed the notebook and the female winner hung her head, exasperated.

"Just how did you collect all of that information if he had been reported as one of the world's most mysterious candy makers?" she asked, remembering the title that a few news casters had called him during the competition.

"My family has ties with over a hundred private police. Naturally, some detective work accompanied my research into the location of the Golden Ticket." He explained, pushing his glassed up the bridge of his nose while tucking away the notebook again.

"Are you ever surprised by anything?"

He peered down at her, arching an eyebrow.

"I know that there are few things in the world that would come as a surprise when you know too much for your own good…but is it healthy to simply be level-minded all the time?" Haruhi wondered aloud, though she could have been asking Kyouya about it at the same time. Whatever she was saying, he was listening. "A cool exterior, never ruffled by a word or an action…you can not even appear taken aback by your own calm exterior…I know a lot, I have a decent grade-point average to prove it, but my dad will still make sure that I receive a little shock every now and then. It seems to prove to him that I'm alive I think…"

A commoner's wisdom, eh? Ohtori smiled, turning his gaze to the water tank and watching the candy pelt into the rippling surface. "Do you spout out speeches often? If so…you could do with a few public speaking sessions."

Upon saying this he turned away from her and walked away, picturing her as she turned around, staring after him with a slightly angered expression. But she was right, and had the light not been glaring in his glasses throughout her speech, she probably would have noticed the slightly amazed expression that subtly altered his face.

The teenager was frustrated with the lot of them at this point, all of the winner were all spoiled rich kids after all, the only one who had remote kindness within them, was Morinozuka and he was still missing from the room…but Tamaki Suoh was standing with the twins, yelling at them as they threatened to bite into unfinished experiments that they had gotten their hands on.

"Where is…Morinozuka-san?" she murmured, peeking around.

A teen that tall would not have been hard to find, but it seemed she had better luck in locating a Renge-Lenge then the faithful cousin.

"Suoh-san." She called his name; striding towards the flamboyant blond and earning an astonished expression as he looked in her direction, hands gripping the collars of the twins' shirts. "Where is Morinozuka?"

He released their shirts immediately and straightened up, smiling a bit as he closed his eyes, "Mori-kun has withdrawn from the winners. I have told him how to reach Hunny-kun, and so he's…gone to…get him!"

Something about the lagged explanation made her feel a bit uneasy.

This factory truly was a suspicious place…

"Don't worry, Haruhi." Hikaru said, at her side in a micro-second and his fingertips were suddenly tilting up her face. "We'll watch over you so that you do not disappear as well…"

"Yes, we will make sure to never leave-your-side…" Kaoru added, the girl indifferent, though a bit annoyed, as he wrapped an arm about her from behind and rest his chin upon her shoulder.

This seemed to infuriate Tamaki and he made to charge at them but finger hooked in his collar and he was halted. Kyouya had restrained him casually, looking off at the room with a flicker of interest.

"I believe you have a tour you should be giving…"

"Ah—right…" he glanced at the twins and they released Haruhi, shrugging their shoulders innocently as they looked off in different directions.

He began to point out the numerous experiments in the room, all the while; Haruhi's thoughts began to wonder to a nagging thought that seemed to overpower the candy-making secrets being revealed to her…

They all seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with one another somehow…even if they did not like that detail, Haruhi felt it when she had looked at Tamaki as he argued with Hikaru and Kaoru. Then the casual restraint Kyouya had bestowed upon him when he almost charged at the two…when they had first arrived, everyone seemed to be separated by glass walls that couldn't be broken, but the deeper they descended into the factory…the thinner the glass seemed to become.

Would it be a matter of time…before she began to like them as well?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N:

Well, there is the long-awaited fourth chapter. Not a very good one and its taken forever to finish.

Work and college are really taking up a lot of my creative juices and time...

I would appreciate some reviews, even if you were a bit disappointed with him.

It's hard to get rid of Mori as a Blueberry...he's just...so unlike Violet Baureguard that I had a hard time getting rid of him.

So we'll just have to wait and see what has become of our "Wild Type" won't we?